Catholic bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi have a history of changing the political landscape in this impoverished southern African country that is home to 12 million people.

In a country where over half of the population live below the poverty line, the Bishops and the church in
particular is a beacon of hope for many especially in the face of abject poverty and the Aids scourge.

In 1992, the Bishops penned a pastoral letter titled“Living Our Faith” to Malawi’s first president Hastings Kamuzu Banda condemning his human rights record.

At the time many Malawians had disappeared or were serving jail terms simply for expressing dissenting views to the man who was touted as the "Lion of Malawi".

As it were the Bishops were detained for a while but got released following pressure from the church, the international community and human rights organisations.

A referendum in June 1993 and General Elections in 1994 ushered in politics of pluralism.

Today, at a time when the country is enjoying a full-fledged democracy all appear not to be well on the political scene and the Bishops are back * this time warning Malawians not to lose economic gains because of a political stalemate between government and the opposition in the National Assembly.

In a statement signed by ECM chairperson Archbishop Tarcisius Ziyaye, the bishops call on politicians, religious leaders, traditional leaders and all Malawians to seriously consider the cost of focusing on political issues at the expense of development.

“Should we lose the gains from debt cancellation by financing the impeachment processes or by-elections at the expense of pro-poor expenditure areas like education, health, food security and mitigation of HIV/ Aids?” questions the statement in part.

The bishops point out that the uncertainty and tension will scare away foreign investors and deny Malawians benefits of economic gains realised from debt cancellation.

The political bickering stemmed from the time President Bingu wa Mutharika dumped the United
Democratic Front (UDF) the party that bankrolled his campaign prior to the 2004 General Elections and
formed his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Opposition parties want the Speaker of Parliament to declare vacant over 40 seats of legislators who joined the DPP from other parties contrary to Section 65 of the Republican Constitution.

The Section gives the Speaker of Parliament powers to fire Members of Parliament who are deemed to have crossed the floor. Government is running without the 2007/ 2008 National Budget and is surviving on monthly allocations.

The opposition has vowed to shoot down the National Budget unless defectors are kicked out from the
193-strong House and it is the ruling party which is in minority that stands to suffer heavy casualties
should the Speaker rule on the Section.

But the Bishops say: “We encourage the spirit of dialogue that has sustained our democracy to this day.”